Creation began on 10-02-23

Creation ended on 11-27-23

Neon Genesis Evangelion

Anistar City!

"…So, you're actually trying to grow these berries here?" Kensuke asked Asuka and Rei when he learned that Pen-Pen had swiped one of the berries from his backpack and took it with him. "Any progress?"

"Nothing but small stems for now," Asuka reveals, showing the small pot she was using for the Sitrus Berries. "But it's proof that they can grow here."

"Impressive," went Hikari as she looked through the plexiglass to see the limited soil the roots of the Sitrus Berry seeds' roots were growing through to reach the water. "How was last night?"

"Sleeping in the dark?" Misato responds. "Hated it."

"Nobody can handle sleeping in the dark," said Toji. "Even in the wilderness, nobody likes to sleep in the dark."

"And it's still raining out there," Rei states, looking out the window to see the clouding skies that continued to release droplets of water across the city. "I'm hoping the weather in the Pokémon world is not as depressing as it is here."

"Knowing Shinji, I don't think a little rain would stop him," Misato says.

-x-

A little rain never hurt anybody, but being out in the rain for too long could cause health issues to impede one's progress when traveling. Even with an umbrella or a poncho, the cold winds and the water hitting you in your face left you feeling rather vulnerable if you weren't up for travel much of the time in bad weather. This resulted in Shinji and Hanmyo waiting in the cave until the rain stopped and conditions were more favorable. Still, nothing treated the immune system better than warm meals to soothe the insides of the body on cold days.

"…What will you do when we get to Anistar City, Hanmyo?" Shinji asks the girl.

"Take a relaxing, hot bubble bath," she answers him. "You? Besides facing the gym leader?"

"Restock on food and essentials. Learn a bit about the sundial and then go up against the gym leader if there's enough time to do so on a good day of exploring the city."

"Eee!" Misato chirps as Shinji sets her bowl down so she could help herself to a second helping of warm soup. "Eee!"

"You're definitely in better spirits than before, Shinji," Hanmyo states.

"Thank you," Shinji responds, handing her a cup of tea. "My spirits will be better when everyone else returns for another sojourn."

-x-

"…So, Shinji is doing better?" Delia Ketchum asks Prof. Oak when she saw him stop by Shinji's home, seeing his Jynx sweeping around the front of the house.

"He was facing a difficult issue regarding one of his Pokémon," he explains, "but he managed to walk away from it without too much trouble."

"Jynx, Jynx," went Katsuragi, shaking her head in the negative; nothing about what happened that day was without too much trouble. "Jynx, Jynx."

"Mime?" Delia's Mr. Mime went as he approached Katsuragi; over time, the two Pokémon had developed a mutual bond. "Mime?"

"Jynx, Jynx," she tells him as her body glows and strands of her hair touches his head.

"Mime!" He gasps, being shown the dreadful day. "Mime."

"Just how bad was Shinji hurt that day?" Delia asks Prof. Oak.

"You recall the Ursaring he caught that passed away recently?" He reminds her. "It came back as a ghost and tried to kill him…and almost succeeded. Almost."

"That's awful."

Katsuragi then showed Delia the memory of that horrid moment where her trainer had almost bit the dust because of the Ursaring…and how his life was saved by the arrival of the Xerneas that came by.

"And he spent four days in the hospital afterwards?" She asks Katsuragi.

"Jynx," she answers the woman.

"He got lucky."

"Jynx, Jynx."

While there was some degree of truth to the claim, the Jynx believed that Shinji, due to his compassion and resourcefulness, was capable of making his own luck when in situations of that sort that made them all realize how challenging it is to be a Pokémon Trainer. And it was just luck of the powerful sort that he was able to see the next day.

"It almost feels like he faces situations that are…just sometimes…a little too intense, even for him," Delia confesses her belief about Shinji's position as a Pokémon Trainer.

"Maybe," Prof. Oak responds, "but he doesn't back down. He has yet to face a situation that can break his will to persevere."

"Jynx, Jynx," went Katsuragi.

"Mime," added Mimey.

-x-

The rain in Tokyo-3 let up a little as the day went on, but it was still too heavy for it to be declared passing by. However, the reduction in the rain made it easier for everyone at the research lab to monitor the happenings in the Pokémon world while doing an evaluation on Boomer after it was demonstrating a greater degree of levitation that was affecting other people around it.

"I'm guessing some form of electromagnetic phenomenon," one of the researchers informs Antonio as they were among the seven men and women being levitated around the Electrode. "Once overcharged with electricity, Boomer releases electromagnetic waves that affect the gravity within a certain range of itself. Anything not bolted to the ground or weighs less than a car is affected by the waves and floats around."

"You don't say?" Antonio responds as he finds himself with one of the women standing on the ceiling in the room. "This feels like zero gravity."

"Electrode!" Boomer went, floating over to Antonio. "Trode!"

"I'm happy that you're happy, Boomer."

"Trode!"

Meanwhile, just outside the building, Misato and Ritsuko had arrived while the teens were at school until the day was over.

"…Those berries Shinji gave Kensuke are growing in this world?" Ritsuko asks Misato, who had just informed her about the Sitrus Berry stems Asuka had managed to grow from the seeds.

"It's more of a work in-progress, but Asuka's proud that they are growing," she explains as they step inside the lab, happy to be out of the rain. "How goes the progress in making those potions used for Pokémon to work for humans?"

"It's hard to find volunteers that are actually injured. But I'm sure I've reduced the dosage enough to make them safe for human use."

"If they can help revolutionize medical technology, it would only be a matter of time before the human exploitation of their Full Restore remedy can be used for humans."

"Yeah."

As they step down the hallway to the main lab that Tama Pāru was often in, they noticed some men carting away large, metal barrels that appeared to be full of white pebbles.

"Uh, what are those supposed to be, sir?" Misato asks one of them, noticing that the pebbles were shining a bit.

"That big dragon has a digestive system that is just way too unusual when expelling its waste," he responds. "Somehow, its solid waste converts into the same substances found in common pearls. The only problem is…well, it expels a lot of them."

"Whoa," Ritsuko expresses, finding it confusing for a Dragon-Type Pokémon to be capable of expelling pearls as a waste byproduct of its consumption of regular foodstuffs. "That's very unusual, even for a dragon."

"Then again, it's not an ordinary dragon, so anything is likely to be unlikely."

That's when Ritsuko had an idea.

"If those rectal deposits are no different from regular pearls, what will be done with them?" She asks the men in charge of disposing them.

"More than likely, they'll be carted off to some facility where the people will confirm they're not hazardous. If they're not hazardous, a lot of specialists that make pearl-based jewelry will be immensely happy."

"Well, that would be a new way to turn waste into resources," went Misato.

"When you manage to go back to the Pokémon world, please tell Shinji that we're hoping he catches a Groudon, eventually," said one of the other men. "It's not easy to create artificial islands these days. And whatever else he can tell us about lab-grown meats. Those are ventures that can help a lot over here."

Suddenly, the lights were starting to flicker.

"Stupid weather," Misato sighs.

-x-

"I can't believe we were forced out of the cave by a flash flood!" Shinji went as he and Hanmyo ran through the woods on their way to Anistar City.

"It feels like the rain is getting heavier!" Hanmyo tells him as her cats floated behind her.

"Eevo!" Misato chirped as she held onto Shinji's back with her paws.

"Oh, I hope they got plenty of hot water at the Pokémon Center!" Shinji expressed, not wanting any of them to catch their death of cold out here. "We shouldn't be too far from the city now!"

"How much further is it?!"

"Half a mile!"

"I'm getting soaked in my undies!"

They ran far…and reached their destination, soaked to their bones. Upon reaching the Pokémon Center, Hanmyo collapsed from exhaustion, and Shinji dropped to his knees and puked up whatever rainwater had managed to accumulate in his throat.

"How long were you two in that storm?" Nurse Joy asked as she and her Wigglytuff assistants came by to help them.

"Too long," Shinji states, looking up at them. "Can I trouble you…for five bowls of…hot soup?"

"Soup later," went Hanmyo. "Hot bath…now, please."

-x-

"…Those two really hauled ass towards the Pokémon Center," said one of the female assistants to Antonio as they monitored the success of Shinji and Hanmyo arriving to the Pokémon Center in the new city.

"Yes, they did," he agrees before the static caused the screens to become distorted. "How strong is the storm outside?"

"It's intensifying," answered a man holding a tablet. "We could looking at this heavy rainfall for another forty-eight hours."

"Storms have often been seen as the weeping of deities," Tama Pāru says to them. "When they are upset with something that has happened, their tears would span for days and affect the landscape of mortals."

"Sadness or anger?" Misato asks the Pokémon.

"Either," it answers.

"You do realize that weather patterns are more scientific than theological, right?" Ritsuko questions the Pokémon.

"Still, science can't explain or answer the questions that one may seek to have answers for. And in the end, some questions have no answers because they don't need to. One such question that needs no answer is the reason behind our very existence."

The lights within the large chamber started to flicker again, causing the Palkia to groan in annoyance as it raised its head to look up at the lighting.

"Although, there is an answer to why this is happening," it expressed. "Electrical systems are fragile and the means to transmit energy across the grid is being diminished by continued degradation of overused materials that have lost their effectiveness over the ages."

"Yeah," Ritsuko accepted its logic over that issue. "And electromagnetism."

And then…the lights went out completely…and Tama Pāru was aglow like a personal nightlight.

"Please, tell me this just another outage," one of the researchers spoke up.

-x-

Hanmyo felt revitalized by the hot bath she was in. Her chills were gone and she was practically in a small paradise where her insides were warming up and she was out of the cold rain. As she continued to enjoy the bath, Shinji was enjoying a hot shower, feeling his senses getting refreshed. Oh, there were times where he did enjoy a hot bath or hot spring like when he was in the Hoenn Region with Kensuke, but a hot shower felt equally pleasing to his body due to the filth being washed away.

"Eee," he heard Misato utter, reminding him that he had a bathing companion. "Eevo."

"Huh?" He responded, looking down at her. "We haven't been under the water for that long."

"Eevo," she gestured her left paw up towards the bottle of body wash.

"Oh," he realized what she was saying, and grabbed the bottle and poured some of the soapy substance onto her back. "How do you feel?"

"Eevo!"

"That's good to hear."

Suddenly, the lights within the bathroom went out, causing darkness.

"Aw, come on!" Shinji groaned as emergency lights came on.

"Attention," an electronic voice uttered, "due to the severity of the storm, we have switched over to emergency power until the primary power has been restored. We apologize for any inconvenience this has caused."

"We better finish up here and see if there's anything we can do to assist."

"Eee."

-x-

No power meant the school was let out earlier than expected. But the teachers had urged everyone to go directly home because of the extremity of the rain. This left Asuka, Rei, Kensuke, Toji and Hikari with the option to either go home, go to NERV HQ…or the Giovanni research station, despite there likely being no power and no way to initiate a safe, subconscious travel to the Pokémon world.

"We should probably just head home," Toji suggests, though it wasn't really what he wanted to do at the moment as they were still in the classroom.

Beep! Asuka and Rei took out their phones in response to a text message from Misato.

"Well, we can't go to the lab," Asuka tells them. "The power's out and the backup isn't going to cut it with any sojourns to the Pokémon world."

"The latest update on Shinji's status is that he and Hanmyo made it to Anistar City due to a flash flood forcing them out of a cave they were taking shelter in," Rei informs them. "If the weather here is bad, it's possible that the weather over there is also bad."

"What affects one place can likely affect another," Hikari states.

"I should go to the hospital," Toji says. "I need to make sure my sister is doing okay."

"I'll come with you," Kensuke offers.

"Me, too," added Hikari.

"Same here," added Asuka.

"Thanks."

-x-

It was insane! The Pokémon Center had been prepared for long durations of bad weather, but not like this! There were more than thirty trainers inside the building, some with Pokémon in need of medical attention, and the power from the emergency generators were going to wane before the storm outside was over. Not to mention that most of the Pokémon and their trainers hadn't eaten yet, so they were famished.

But Shinji had gone through similar crises and managed to calm things down.

"How do we handle things like this?" Hanmyo asks him as one trainer had a large Pokémon that had a broken arm.

"One of the steps is triaging the situation," he explains, holding a tray of bandages and other medicines in his hands. "Those with greater injuries take precedence over those with minor injuries. And we make sure that everyone remains calm."

Some of the Pokémon aren't exactly calm, went Mata and Kemi to them, and the large Pokémon with the broken arm was becoming aggressive.

Shinji took out his Pokédex to find out what sort of Pokémon they were dealing with here.

"Pangoro, the Daunting Pokémon," Dexter informs on the large Pokémon. "Pangoro possesses ornery personality traits, are easily short-tempered and brutal when provoked. They use the bamboo sprigs they carry in their mouths to detect movements in their environment."

"Okay," Shinji expresses as he goes over to the Pangoro's trainer. "What happened?"

"We were on our way to the city when the raining got worse. We fell down, but my Pangoro got hurt. When something like this happens, I would use Full Restore, but I forgot to restock at the Poké Mart when I left the last town I was in."

Shinji looks at his Pangoro and asks it to raise its injured arm up.

"Pan…goro," it groans as it does as it was requested by Shinji.

Shinji wraps some bandages around the limb and then gives Pangoro three pills.

"You should put it back inside its Poké Ball and let it rest for the rest of the day," he tells the trainer. "Are any of your other Pokémon in need of medical attention?"

"No. Thank you."

"Pangoro."

Hanmyo was impressed by Shinji being able to handle the matter without much fear.

"I don't know how you could handle that," she told him. "That Pokémon looked like it was ready to rip you in half."

"Oh, believe me, I was terrified," he tells her. "But sometimes, a Pokémon with an injury can be more terrified because they want aid and have no other way to point it out to people."

In the span of an hour, Shinji, Hanmyo and Nurse Joy were able to quell the tempers of the injured Pokémon by finding out what was the issue and remedying it. Whether it was a Fearow with a broken wing, a Flareon suffering from hypothermia, a Medicham with a headache or even a Skuntank with a twisted stomach, they made sure that nobody was ignored of their pain. There was even a Blissey with a cracked egg that Hanmyo was able to cheer up with her cats.

"Emboar!" An Emboar growled as it got Shinji's attention, looking like it was dragging its right leg. "Emboar!"

"Stop moving and lay down now!" Shinji told it. "You're exasperating your injury!"

"Boar!" It roared at him, releasing streaks of flame from its mouth. "Boar!"

"Oh, you do not want to throw down with me right now," he warned; he refused to let an injured Pokémon try to fight him when it wouldn't even be a fair fight. "Lay down and we can get your leg looked at."

Emboar grunted and obliged the young man, laying on the floor so he could examine its leg.

"So, what happened?" He asked its trainer.

"He saved me from pickup that lost control on the road," she explained as Shinji confirmed that the Emboar's leg was broken and that trying to walk on it had exasperated the injury a little.

"I'm guessing rain doesn't bother him?"

"A little rain never hurt anyone."

"True. But this rain is a bruiser."

Nurse Joy came by with a stretcher designed for heavy Pokémon and Hanmyo's cats helped lift the Emboar onto it to cart it away to prep it for surgery to mend his leg.

"Oh, jeez, you're him," the trainer expresses. "Shinji Ikari, the Sinnoh League Champion. I didn't expect to see you, of all Pokémon Trainers, here of all places."

"Life is full of surprises," he replies.

"The last I heard about you was that you were in Laverre City when…"

"When…"

"A ghost was acting up, hurting people."

"Yeah. That…was Nageku. But the matter with it was resolved that day. It can't hurt anyone now. Where it currently resides, it can't do anything except lament over the life it had…and could've had."

"The only time I ever heard of a Pokémon that…possessed a vendetta against someone that was responsible for it…but wasn't…responsible for how it ended up…in the end."

"As I said…life is full of surprises."

"Thank you."

After the conversation, Shinji assisted Nurse Joy's Wigglytuff in the kitchen, making sure there were plenty of warm meals to go around.

"Thank you for your help, young man," she told him.

"Don't mention it," he responds, stirring a pot of curry. "Any idea on how long this rain is going to last?"

"It could be another two days before it stops."

"Someone somewhere must be really upset about something."

"Oh!" They heard Hanmyo gasp as she ran into the kitchen. "A new trainer came in with a Hitmonlee with a broken leg and Machoke with both its arms sprained. A little help, please?"

Nurse Joy had the Wigglytuff take over for Shinji and Shinji left to assist in dealing with the two Fighting-Type Pokémon.

-x-

In the center of the battlefield of a large chamber, a woman levitated in the air, surrounded by rings of a strange energy. She was dressed in a manner similar to a superhero of sorts, with a cape that concealed a curtain of stars and her purple hair in a unique style, her eyes aglow with gold light.

I see now, she went, engaged in a conversation between herself and four other individuals. This Shinji Ikari…is a wild one thrown into the wheels of fate and destiny.

A powerful trainer, a pair of twins uttered at the same time. One whose heart is forged of pure gold while his soul is forged in pure silver. His will to persevere makes him a worthy opponent to whoever stands between him and his goals.

These were fellow Psychic-Type specialists: Sabrina of Kanto, Tate and Liza of Hoenn and Lucian of Sinnoh, engaged in conversation regarding Shinji Ikari. They were communicating telepathically and on the astral plane to inform Olympia, the leader of the Anistar City Gym, of what she should expect when she would face Shinji. While Olympia wasn't too concerned about facing this young man, a hindsight vision of the Pokémon Trainer suffering at the hands of a deceased Ursaring that wanted to kill him made her suspect that this man was blessed and cursed by an unusual power at work. While she had suspected his life was supposed to end, right then and there when the vengeful spirit of the Ursaring he caught years ago came after him, the intervention of the mythical Xerneas and Arceus had caused him to defy fate, which surprised her when she saw the vision ending with him returning to life with his fatal wounds removed.

Has he defied fate before? She asks Sabrina.

Many, many times, she answers. He was saved in Kanto when his Magikarp evolved into a Shiny Gyarados to drive off a score of Tentacool and Tentacruel led by a large Tentacruel…and was taken to Cinnabar Island where he recovered.

He fought against the Tao Trio, added Lucian, and captured a giant Dragonite that belonged to a trainer from ancient times, whom Shinji is believed to have been in the past, making him a reincarnation of a great trainer that was a master of many Pokémon in his life.

This is a young man for whom destiny is a branched road, the twins state. In his past, his road was paved with false promises and lies from people he lost any memory of and no social bonds with, represented by a demon forged by mankind's arrogant minds and darkest desires. In his present, where he is now, is paved with his own ambitions and desires for a better future that is of his making, which he has found promise in the way of Pokémon.

His passion for Pokémon stems from his initial encounter with his Eevee, said Sabrina, who has secrets from her past that her trainer has yet to discover.

Olympia had to consider that they were all right about Shinji, but she had yet to face him and wanted to see for herself if he was just as capable as Ash Ketchum is for what was yet to come.

Shinji may surprise you with his tenacity, they heard a new voice speak up, and saw an astral form of a large creature that made itself known to them. He may demonstrate a will to break through the darkness that chases after him long after he declared his defiance towards those that threaten to take all that he holds dear to himself. Everyone and everything he values more than his own life.

And who are you? Olympia asks the creature.

I am Master. Master of One's Own Destiny.

It was Shinji's Mewtwo.

Master, went Lucian. Yes, I've heard of you. You're affiliated with Shinji Ikari. What are you doing here?

There is a crisis yet to come, and I'm trying to understand what role Shinji plays in it.

Then you're aware of the situation? Olympia asks.

I have seen a Pokémon unlike any ever encountered before. It looked like a dragon, but it also looked like a bird of prey, red and black.

Red and black…a bird or dragon… I have seen such a beast only in legend. You may have seen the mythical Yveltal.

Yveltal?

A Pokémon that brings disaster to the Kalos Region in order to feast on the life energy of others in order to replenish its own. It is the opposite of Xerneas, preserving the balance between life and death within the region of Kalos.

Xerneas? Is it evil?

No, but it is vicious and serves as an equal and opposite to Xerneas; one does everything to sustain its own existence, the other does everything to ensure the survival of those endangered.

Master then worried about Shinji; it wasn't that he was worried that the young Pokémon Trainer wouldn't survive after that attempt on his life by the ghost of the Ursaring, but if he went up against a creature like this Yveltal…there was a chance that Shinji would not come out of this in one piece like before. Even if by stroke of fate that Shinji, simply by way of his profession, managed to capture this legendary bringer of destruction, and there wasn't the disbelief that he could capture it, it was unlikely that he be able to handle it if it refused to yield to him like the Ursaring that died.

You are worried about Shinji, Sabrina tells Master. It's only if he attempts to try and capture this Yveltal…and it's only possible that he will try to.

But he may not jeopardize the safety of others to contain a potential threat to the region. Also, some Pokémon gravitate towards him; they wouldn't follow him unless they see something in him that is worth their interest. Something most wouldn't be able to see unless they were actually looking. Some incredibly rare or powerful Pokémon actually chose him, which led to him being able to catch them…and they don't regret meeting him.

Do you have faith in Shinji? The twins asked Master. Do you believe in him?

I believe in him, Master replied. There is no doubt.

Then…he has nothing to worry about until after he faces Yveltal, went Lucian. He may have what it takes to resolve the crisis in a way that makes him the person that he is.

Some people see Pokémon as a way of achieving power, but Shinji views Pokémon as the greatest adventure he started on more than five years ago, discovering creatures that were unlike any he had ever seen or knew that, over time, he came to believe that were capable of restoring the ruins of the world he was displaced from…and he still sees what he's doing as his greatest adventure. He doesn't let the fear of death impede him.

His soul, his heart, his will…are stronger than many suspect before they face him, Olympia states. He is a very powerful individual that knows when to step up or back down. And above all, he is a patient person; he's not in a hurry to do things. I look forward to facing him when he shows up to my gym.

Do you…know when that will be?

When the rain has stopped, two days from now. He will be observed by friends and admirers. He… Oh, dear.

What is it?

Shinji is…having another nightmare. It isn't about the deceased Urasring. He's caught between his past and the unwritten future that is his to decide.

-x-

Shinji really hated how the back of his mind seemed to make attempts at making him revisit his past before the Pokémon world, time and again. There were just times where he hated his parents for their decisions regarding the Eva, their secrets, their ambitions that seemed to take the front seat of their priorities over their responsibilities toward him…and as much as he refused to let his hatred of them destroy his relationships with others, he was reminded of how close he came to being subjected to their ambitions within the space of a heartbeat that was, for just a few seconds, almost his last. Standing before Unit-01, he held up a Poké Ball to symbolize his resolve to never follow his parents again.

"You can't escape your fate, Shinji," the Eva spoke in a demonic version of his mother's voice to him. "Your destiny is to pilot the Eva and save the human race."

"Not like this," he responded. "Not like this! Never!"

"You can't save anyone!"

"I can try to."

"And you will suffer."

Shinji thought for a moment and replied, "I've already died once. You tried to pull my soul towards you and failed. You should take that as a sign that I will not belong to you, no matter what you do."

"You may believe such, but you have no idea of what your refusal to submit to your fate will bring you and those that you value."

"Say what you want, but I will not be swayed by the likes of you. You're a poisonous wind that howls at the world about how some young brat won't do as you want of him. I have tried be like a mountain, set in what I believe in. So, in the ways of old, no matter how the wind howls…the mountain cannot bow to it."

The Eva's eyes glowed red with rage.

"You will fail!" It roared at him. "You will lose everything!"

"Even if it does come to pass," he responds, "those two already lost me. They chose to do what they did. I have to live with their choice…but I don't have to let it break me. The truth knocked me down…but I got up again. I'll get up, again and again…until I can't no more. So up yours."

The Eva roared at him as it evaporated into nothingness, replaced by a large, winged beast of flames and darkness, with glowing eyes that seemed to see into one's soul. As fearful as it made Shinji feel, he refused to turn and run.

"I'm not running!" He yelled at the creature, and it shrieked back.

"Rrrrrrraaurgh!" It shrieked, fanning flames around them. "Rrrrraugh!"

In his small room in the Pokémon Center, holding onto a Poké Ball in his sleep, Shinji held onto said ball tighter until the ball looked as though it was going to crack under pressure.

"I'm not…running," he utters in his sleep.

To be continued…

A/N: The bad weather will end and Shinji will be face-to-face with Olympia on the battlefield. I don't think I need to tell you that you'll be surprised by what happens in the next chapter.